It was a beautiful early autumnal morning at Whitepost Lake. In the watery sunshine, the mist drifted from the shimmering green water and across the dew sodden grass. The only sounds that broke the silence were bird song, the ’splosh’ of a rising fish, and the occasion shot gun that barked out to notify that, yet another unfortunate bunny had been blasted into the abyss by a thousand lead pellets…
Countryside bliss…
But a cloud hung over the venue because the day would need to start with a moan.
We are a group of vastly differing characters. The differences are offset by the fact that we are all getting older. For the younger members of the group, age means increased responsibility for their actions, some more than others. After the tree debacle last time out, the Lead Coach had to get stern and turn threats into promises. We rise and fall together, and this means that everyone should be on their best behaviour or face consequences. This also extends to the equipment that we have purchased.
Respect in all areas has been earned and will be required from now on.
I also spoke to a couple of individuals away from the group to put them deeper into the picture than those who were yet to ‘see the red mist of youth’.
The darker side of coaching now dispensed with; we could now get on with the fishing.
It is important to get new ideas into the cooking pot so we can reinvent ourselves in a better way each year. A few suggestions have been banded around and has given us food for thought. It does not just have to be about the fishing either. Organisational ideas, trips, venues, and all manner of improvements will help to make us potentially more successful next year. Please keep them coming.
I like to shake things up a bit from time to time. Things like pegging the match the opposite way from previous years really messes with people’s heads. Yelps of delight soon turn into groans of despair and vice versa, when they realise where they are drawn.
We had one no show as the unfortunate Josiah was blighted with car trouble. A puking car will not, to the venue, travel.
Peg 1: Harry ‘The Windchime’ Cryer.
Peg 2: Kenzie ‘Nugget’ Toulson (Because of his apparent love of chickens?)
Peg 3: Vacant.
Peg 4: Josh ‘Jamie’s Nephew’ Roe.
Peg 5: Alec ‘The Quiet One’ Campbell.
Peg 6: Mia ‘Dip-Dip’ Evans.
Peg 7: Jack ‘T’Other Jack’ Cryer.
Peg 8: Jack ‘Twiglet’ Copp
Peg 9; Austin ‘Rambo’ Scott-Kennedy.
Peg One:
Harry Cryer:
Harry was ‘Billy-no-mates’ at the furthest end of the lake and on a peg that his brother had performed particularly well from just two weeks earlier. But it was apparent that from early on the fishing was not as good as last time, at least not at the start. We had heard a report that even on the stuffed lakes of the main complex, the fishing was harder than usual. (Probably only 100lb an hour instead of 150!) This would explain why bites were considerably slower than expected. The colder night had taken its toll and, with other areas reporting frost, we were had escaped with just a chill in the air.
Harry had managed to persuade a number of decent Carp to spend a few hours in his keep net. Indeed, there were enough to spin the numbers round to 38lbs, 6th place for 13 points. I think Harry enjoyed his day though…
Peg Two:
Kenzie Toulson:
With the fish proving themselves absent from the marginal areas that performed so well in our pairs match, Kenzie would need to look further afield this time around. Kenzie is quite capable of using his pole well at longer lengths, and so would catch a few more fish than his neighbour. With the fish proving to be awkward to say the least, it is tricky to write much else other than the fact that he did well from an apparently unfavoured end.
Kenzie would finish the day with 42lbs 3ozs, 5th place for 14 points.
Peg 4:
Josh Roe:
Mr Matrix was on form early doors and gave, and took, some serious ribbing.
Josh has reinvented himself from all recognition of the Josh we knew from last year.
The confidence is high (at the start), the shyness has all but gone, and the cockiness close to that of a baby chimp with a firework, a box of matches and a incontinent pensioner.
His fishing has improved too. Coping well with longer poles which he underlined well today.
There was a shutdown in communication towards the end which is frustrating to deal with considering his fizzy demeanour at the beginning.
A good performance gave Josh 53lbs, good enough for 3rd place on the day and 17 points.
well done…
Peg 5:
Alec Campbell:
Alec has already proved himself to be a competent silverfish angler catching some nice bags of shimmering silver from Harbourbridge. What was obvious to me today is that he has now come fairly proficient at Carp fishing too. A laid-back style that is as unhurried as it could be to the point that I checked him for a pulse twice during the match. Alec has a habit of breaking the duration of a match into timed sectors. Within these sectors he challenges himself to jam as much food into his face as is humanly possible, whilst at the same time remaining annoyingly thin! If I tried that I would need to be airlifted from my box, my butt would hang over my seat box like a courier rider’s saddlebags, not to mention the carb rush that would send me off like a lardy firework…
During these ‘Fishing breaks from eating’, Alec cobbled together some decent fish towards the end. Even if most of them hung themselves whilst he was eyebrow deep in another bread roll.
In all seriousness, Alec impresses me more and more each time I see him. 56lbs 7ozs was enough to see off his neighbours and all but one of the other anglers for 2nd place and 20 points.
Bravo Chef…
Peg 6:
Mia Evans:
A work in progress, Mia is loving her fishing. Although I’m starting to feel that she wants a better return for her efforts to date. It will come because she listens well to instructions and takes to new skills quickly. She just needs a little patience to allow us to weave our magic upon her fishing skills.
She promised to be nice to me today, which is always good to hear with at least 6 hours in each other’s company ahead of us.
As with some of the others, early tactics were not that successful and, without the experience, Mia struggled to know where to proceed next to catch a few more fish. We got her to get regular bites by the end and 30lbs 7ozs and 11 points was not really representative of the effort she put it.
But that’s fishing.
You may be asking about the nickname ‘Dip-Dip’? Whilst playing a fish, she kept dipping the top kit into the water to ‘lube the laccy’. This lost her two fish that I witnessed, although they may have been ‘hooked up the bot-bot’ anyway.
Keeping your elastic lubricated is a good thing. But not when you’re playing fish. One quick dip and a pull before laying your rig in is more than sufficient to keep everything flowing smoothly, particularly with heavier elastics.
I’m not singling Mia out for criticism here. But it does show that she was doing the right thing, just at the wrong time.
Peg 7:
Jack Cryer:
I saw that, Paul Cryer!
The sneaky flick of a few pellets into Jack’s swim did not go as un-noticed as Paul may have wished. But the (nearly) all seeing eye of the lead coach was upon him and was instant judgement. It’s the rules dear boy. No more please!!!!
Jack’s swim was constructed of more fish bodies than water at times, as they chewed and scraped at the bottom. But they would not feed properly enough to take his bait. They tried lots of methods to try to snare one of what were quite sizable fish. But to no avail.
It is easy to become preoccupied with these fish that you can plainly see, and you spend endless hours trying to hook fish that deep inside, you know you may not catch.
Ten out of ten for effort though and he stuck at it knowing that the match win had gone and it became more of a mission to win over the pea-sized minds of the fish he was trying to catch.
35lbs 15ozs was Jack’s reward as was 12 points.
Peg 8:
Jack Copp:
After a while, you do get bored writing about how good Jack has become this year. He has sent ripples out into the senior fishing circuit too, and it won’t be long before they are handing over large amounts of cash to the pocket-sized pro.
The fact was that Uncle Jerry was the one who mentioned chopped worms to the Copps, and it was Dave that hot-footed it to the shop to get some ‘Dendras’.
To say they worked was an understatement, but I am always quick to say that fish do not just swim into an angler’s keep net. They must be caught and placed in there.
Information, reaction, and skills are what enabled jack to use three nets for 93lbs 5ozs and the 25 points for the match win.
well done Maestro…
Peg 9:
Austin Scott-Kennedy:
Rambo had the end peg advantage for sure. But when that end peg has won most of the matches we have fished on Whitepost, my confidence for him was high.
The trees at Whitepost do need a bit of a haircut it must be said, particularly for less experienced juniors. But it was what it was and no amount of complaining from Austin was going to change that.
I watched as his usual accurate casting was replaced with a ‘that’ll do’ attitude which, when you’re up against a kid that is making local heroes quake in their waders, may not quite cut the mustard.
Austin did enough to land him 4th place with 44lbs 10ozs, and 15-points.
Well done.
The win for Jack means the championship has closed a little to just 7-points. With the form that Jack is on this year, Austin is going to have his work cut out to stay ahead, but he still has the advantage at the moment. You can have all the form you want, but it is the fish that hold the cards in fishing. Particularly going into the colder months…
Austin 159-points
Jack 152-points
Jack Cryer 125-points
Harry Cryer 115-points
Alec Campbell 110-points
Big thanks go to our intrepid team of coaches, Jon, Jerry, and Si.
Thanks as always to the team at Todber Manor for your continued support.
Our event is still up in the air at the time of writing. Please stay tuned to WhatsApp for further developments.
Juniors Sec.
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